carpe librum

﻿It Started With Goodbye Review

So I want to preface this review by apologizing for it going up as late as it is, but also to shout out the author Christina June for being such a sweet and amazing person. It was a joy meeting her at the Little Shop of Stories with Lauren Karcz and Katy Upperman.

For those of y’all that don’t know, this is a Cinderella-retelling, and I am all for it.

Rating: 4/5 stars

*POSSIBLE SPOILERS*

I honestly didn’t expect to like this as much as I did, because it did seem almost chick-litish (no offense to those that do like that genre, I just prefer YA).

I really LOVED the voice – the main character is the right amount of sass and real, which is a big thing I see a lot with books, where the teenage character reads almost like how adults see us.

If you love no traditional family dynamic, enemies to friends, friendship in general, romance, fairy tale inspiration, this is the book for you.

I really cared about the characters and felt for them. I hated Belen for the longest – even when I tried to see things from her way (Christina June mentioned how if kids saw things from their parents perspective…) but I grew to understand her and respect her in a way.

I even liked the romance in it, which is big for me, because I usually hate romance in YA if I don’t deem it necessary (and if it weren’t for the fact that this was a Cinderella-retelling, maybe I’d be more harsh).

The characters are also POC, but for those of you concerned, it is not #ownvoices.

I especially like all of the little elements of the original Cinderella story, such as when one of the characters talks about wanting to chop her toes off or something like that.

It’s a new, modern, and unique take on the classic Cinderella story without being overly wrought with cliches, so I highly encourage y’all to read this book (especially reluctant readers).